Review: Sony SCD-XA5400ES CD Player

Hi Cyrilmartin! After a few months (depending on your play time), the XA5400ES becomes smoother, warmer and purer sounding with an increase in dynamic shadings. Also, the Sony is extremely extended and WILL show up any ancillary distortion introduced into the audio chain, whether it be from external or internal sources. I use a Transparent Reference MM Powerlink and MIT V1.2 IC's. If you don't address the power line noise and intercomponent distortions with your cabling, then there may remain some residual "sibilance", that you refer to.

Thank you- I have another source and the problem isn't there, nor does it happen with vinyl (although frequency extension is very different). I would attribute this to the Sony, and as previously stated, the type of filter selected to perform the CD oversampling. I have another piece of digital gear allowing to choose between 1) linear phase Half Band FIR upsampling, 2) Linear Phase Full nyquist attenuation and 3) minimum phase upsampling- settings one and two seem to lead to about the same amount (faint!) of sibilance, but with filter 3 it is completely addressed. What I am hearing on the Sony SCD-XA5400ES sounds similar, and is completely gone on SACD playback. Hopefully, first and second stage upsampling filter is performed in the SACD IC, and it may be possible to update the filter coefficients using a software update... Wouldn't that be nice? :)

How long have you had the player? Breakin time is crucial for the Sony till it smooths out. With my PC it has the cleanest, purest most extended high frequency range of any player I've owned. I still think you have a problem elsewhere in the chain that the XA5400ES is showing up or passing along:O)

Dave, this only happens on CD- SACD is clean... Digital hardly needs any break-in, analog does, and the analog signal chain is the same for both CD and SACD- IMHO this is related to their CD upsampling filter choice (although they may have had no choice in the matter if they use the filters embedded in the DAC). Also, and as previously stated, this happens with outboard DAC when regular FIR are in use, but disappear when minimum phase filters are used instead...

This does certainly not eclipse the many qualities of this player- and although it competes with the best SACD players out there, it will fail when confronted to the best CD players (or network players) because of this.

Now, regarding my signal chain- I am not too worried as I can clearly hear the personality of each source, and each change, even the smallest, clearly impact what I am hearing... But, that makes me think, maybe your Sophias do not have enough high frequency energy for you to hear the sibilance... Or, and this is quite usual, your hearing doesn't extend that high anymore? :) (I.e. right back at you there).

Last but not least- and this is because you seem to respond to everyone on this thread, but also because you attempt to knock down any criticism related to this player: who do you work for?

I saw a 5400 on the workbench at Allen Wright's (Vacuum State Electronics) studio in Schaffhausen the other Saturday. It had the Terra Firma bit clock fitted, and Allen or his technician were going to fit the Level 7 VSE modification board the next week.

As you know, the 5400 is a totally different chip architecture to what Allen's mods worked with previously. Interested to know what changes were necessary to make it work.

I hear that it's done now and I hope to get a chance to hear the VSE modified 5400 before it returns to its owner in the US.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating, but it will be great if this well-priced unit turns out to be a nice platform for modifications.

Regards,